Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1887-02-16
FATHER UPCHURCH.

Presbyterian church in this city next Sun
day evening. In parenthesis it may b
stated that the church will be too small t,
accommodate the number who may desir
to attend and that the opera house weult
be the better place to hold the services
The meeting will be addressed by Col. C. G
Bradshaw and other prominent speakers
which announcement is sufficient to fill any
building in the city.
The order OF the A. o. U. w.. of which
Father Upchurch il tho founder, has thirty
nine lodges in the Territory, the Butte
membership reaching $50. 1t is a pros
porous order and numbers in it's member
ship some of the mostprominent gentlemen
in the city. Its object and q brief bio.
graphical sketch OF tho life of tho founder
of the order, taken from the Pacific States
Waterman, OF the 22d ult., is %suhjoined.
1.-The life OF Bro. j. J. Upchurch was that
OF a mechanic. It 10 only as the founder
and in connection with the growth and de-
velopment Of the A. o. o. W. that it has q
special charm. Yet every member of the
A. o. U. w. will follow him with interest in
his simple frankness and earnest life. He
was born 10 Franklin county; North Caro-
lima, March 26, 1926. Though the son of
a farmer, he possessed a natural aptitude
for mechanical pursuits, and in his seven.
tenth year began to learn the trade of q
millwright. Then he tried house. carpentry
for a while.
After his marriage with Miss Angelina
Green, in 1841, he attempted to run a ho-
tel at Raleigh, n. c.. and after various
other tentative efforts to get a start in life,
we find him at the age of rs in the employ
of the Pennsylvania Railway Company,
where he remained a number of years. We
d Great Western Railway Company, and
OF their shops at MeadvilIe, Pa.
While occupying this position he became
disgusted with the methods of the Trades
Unions. He noticed that their intense sell
made them willing to sacrifice
every other interest to build up their spe-
,ial guilds. There seemed to be no sense of
toward employers, and ill-ieeling
was cherished and strikes. often OF
without sense or Justice. He
led had a practical illustration of this in
1s own shop. He brooded over this
unhappy state of things for years. The
occasionally fitted through his
mind that it was possible to organize an
order upon a basis broader and more lib
raj. The idea gradually assumed shape, |
'ut he had to lay it aside, as he saw no
to use it. Very Unexpectedly |
IN opportunity presented itself. Mr.. Up
hurch belonged to an organization in |
deadville called "The League OF Friend.
hip" (which for some cause lacked vitality, |
md one evening the members voted q dis
OF it. A number of them fingered
q the ball, chatting over the pleasant
lines they had spent together and seemed
Unwilling to quit the place. The thought
truck Mr.. Upchurch that now was q time
o launch his scheme. The suggestion was
and the majority agreed to meet
4 a few evenings and hear him
lore fully unfold the idea. The result was
hat Mr.. Upchurch was requested to frame
constitution and ritual, which were
dopted by fourteen members, October 81,
S6S. This was Jefferson Lodge, No. 1,
feadville, Pa. The chief object they had
!, view was to prevent strikes, promote
he common interest of capital and labor,
ne employers and employees. by bringing
a~m together in the same organization,
pom the same fraternal level, where a
lore intimate acquaintance would beget I
feeling. |,
The Importance of insurance, now a
rominent feature, was then regarded al
In this way was laid the foun-
alton OF our magnificent structure. The
riginal idea crude, but it contained -,
lie germinal principle of life and growth,
and endurance.
1.-The growth OF the orded was very slow.
seems to be a law that everything good I
Is to carry a cross. Trouble began early.
here was a clause in the constitution stat
6 that all white male persons over 81
'ars were eligible to membership. The
st morning after the organization q
OF members came to Mr.. Upchurch
I'd asked to have the words white male"
ruck out. He refused and thereon seve.
| members withdrew. During the year
500 still more serious trouble arose
nomg the members OF Jefferson Lodge, 6
lich eliminated in a rupture, and p,
e formation Of two separate branches,
re under the leadership OF j. Upchurch +;
I'd the other n of w. w. Walker. ,
lis quarrel for some time threatened I
e existence OF the order. 1t res tied in '
o Grand Lodges in Pennsylvania, and
r five years the history OF tho order was c
e Of trouble and internal dissention. If 9
r. Upcnurch had not been a plucky man .
e whole thing would have fallen to pieces. l
ter five years struggle the combined mem
rship did not exceed 1900. In 1873 q {
Inflow appeared on the cloud. A better =
ling prevailed; the two Grand Lodges
re united into one, and on tho eleventh
February, 1873, the Supreme Lodge was Z
in Cincinnati. From that date e
e real history Of the order began.
Father Upchurch lived to see that little y
nd of Fourteen members grow to about
1000, having disbursed for the benefit
it's Widows and orphans more than $15,-
1000 since the formation OF that Mead
lie Lodge. The leaven put in three meas
es OF meal has lea vened the whole lump. p
Ike the Vine that came out of Egypt, the r
der has spread over all the land, it's !,
anches laden with rich clusters, and !,
ousands OF grateful hearts basking in its Z
ade. Such is the monument that now
ands to the memory Of j. j. Upchurch. +
the light OF eternity who would not t
Their have it than the Column Vendome i
ID the Glory OF Austerlitz? And vet
IS fraternal blessing like a mountain I
c
will murmur on a thousand years I
And now as now it flows.' r
THE COUNTRY'S INDUSTRIES.